42. Engulfed in fire and smoke

Keywords for this historic location

42. Engulfed in fire and smoke

The final years of the war are tough on the people of Huissen. Hundreds are killed and wounded during heavy allied bombing and the town is devastated. Most victims are buried in a mass grave out of pure necessity. There just isn´t enough wood for that many coffins. The suffering is indescribable.

17th September 1944, a beautiful summer’s day, saw the start of Operation Market Garden. At around half past eleven, an allied aircraft dropped its deadly cargo on the Looveer ferry, taking multiple casualties. When Operation Market Garden failed, Huissen found itself on the frontlines stuck between two major battlefields: Arnhem and Nijmegen.

On 1st October, British reconnaissance planes sighted Germans tanks in Huissen and the next day, allied bombers approaching from the direction of Arnhem, dropped their all-destroying freight on the town in the hope they would take out the German tanks. The tanks were long gone...

The victims were taken to a mass grave. Except one, who lost his fight a few hours after being pulled out of the rubble that was the Dominican Cloister Presbytery. It was Father Th. van Wijk. He was laid to rest in the crypt until 1945, when he was taken to his final resting place in the mass grave.

Tourist information

Huissen cemetery - 200 metres from the church in the centre of town, heading towards Doelenstraat. GPS code: 51°56'13.1’’N 5°56’23.7’’O